Just Mercy I, 1 and Test 1

Today we discussed the intro and chapter 1 for Just Mercy.

Hopefully, this served as a review for you.  There are many ways that you can connect Just Mercy to the three paradigms and the three concepts that we looked at.  Be able to explain and apply each of the following:

Structural functional paradigm
Conflict paradigm
Symbolic interaction paradigm

social construction of reality
sociological imagination
sociological mindfulness

For the book discussion, let me draw your attention to a few passages that I find particularly powerful:

Page 17:
“In this book you will learn the story of Walter’s case, which taught me about our system’s disturbing indifference to inaccurate or unreliable verdicts, our comfort with bias, and our tolerance of unfair prosecutions and convictions.  Walter’s experience taught me how our system traumatizes and victimizes people when we exercise our power to convict and condemn irresponsibly-not just the accused but the also their families, their communities, and even the victims of crime.  But Walter’s case also taught me something else: that there is light within this darkness.”

Page 17-18 – “Each of us is more than the worst thing we’ve ever done...the opposite of poverty is not wealth… it’s justice….The true measure of our commitment to justice , the character of our society, our commitment to the rule of law, fairness and equality cannot be measured by how we treat the rich…
We are all implicated when we allow other people to be mistreated.  An absence of compassion can corrupt the decency of a community, a state, a nation.  Fear and anger can make us vindictive and abusive, unjust and unfair, until we all suffer from the absence of mercy and we condemn ourselves as much as we victimize others.  The closer we get to mass incarceration and extreme levels of punishment, the more I believe it is necessary to recognize that we all need mercy, we all need justice and –perhaps- we all need some measure of unmerited grace.”

HW: Bring your Just Mercy Book to class!